Stores such as hardware stores, department stores, and grocery stores display their goods on shelving systems, which may include a plurality of shelf units. The shelf units are arranged throughout the store in a manner that is aesthetically appealing and allows for easy access to the displayed goods. Occasionally, it is desirable to rearrange the shelf units to offer customers a new shopping environment. The new shopping environment, for example, may offer new conveniences or may provide a shopping experience that encourages customers to consider other goods offered for sale by the store.
In one conventional technique for rearranging shelf units, all goods are first removed from the shelf units. Fixtures are subsequently disassembled/dismantled, carried to a different location in the store, and then reassembled. Then, the goods are reloaded onto the shelf units. The goods must be removed from the shelf units prior to moving them, because a fully loaded shelf unit is usually too heavy to lift and carry by hand. For example, a fully loaded shelf unit can weigh several hundred pounds. This particular technique of rearranging shelf units is undesirable because it is both time-consuming and labor intensive. It can take several days or weeks to rearrange all the shelf units in a store. Moreover, individuals moving the shelf units must expend significant energy to first unload the goods from the shelf units, manually lift and carry the unloaded shelf units, and then reload the goods onto the shelf units.
Other techniques offer systems that provide mechanical lifting devices that lift the shelving units onto rolling devices to facilitate movement of the shelf units. However, many conventional systems employ complex designs that make such systems expensive and difficult to operate. In particular, several people may be required to operate these systems. In addition, while the mechanical lifting devices may lift the shelving units, the rolling devices may be difficult to position properly under the shelf units. Furthermore, many of these systems engage the shelf units in a manner that may damage the shelf units or result in unstable movement of the shelf units.